I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 21

Grrrraaa-!

The Living Armor reached the moat.

They slowed down while crossing the moat filled with holy water, and had to endure our barrage of arrows.

But, they’re tough.

Taking the arrows with their whole bodies, they finally crossed the moat and reached the ramparts.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The leading Living Armor began to violently pound on the gate.

However, the gate was thick and firmly locked.

No matter how monstrous these guys are, they couldn’t break through it without siege weapons.

The Living Armor eventually gave up on attacking the gate and began to climb the ramparts.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

The sight of the armored monsters clinging to the ramparts and climbing up was truly… grotesque. It was like a scene from a horror movie.

Gulp. Gulp.

The soldiers standing at the edge of the ramparts, looking down, swallowed hard.

“Stand by.”

I also swallowed hard, looking down with them, but I tried to act calm on the outside.

“Stand by!”

We had placed various odds and ends, such as leftover stones and iron scraps from the reinforcement work, on the ramparts in advance.

The soldiers were ready to throw these at the Living Armor.

The Living Armor had climbed almost all the way up the high ramparts.

Now, they were close enough to see the eerie glint in their eyes flickering inside their helmets.

Only then did I shout loudly.

“Now! Drop them!”

“Drop them!”

“Drop them-!”

The soldiers simultaneously pushed the odds and ends over the ramparts.

Thump…

Crash! Bang!

The Living Armor, hit by the heavy debris, fell to the ground together.

Many were shattered to pieces by the impact of the fall, but the rest stood up again, perfectly fine. I clicked my tongue.

“They’re terribly tough, aren’t they!”

We threw all the debris piled up on the ramparts. Even after being hit by that, they were stubbornly climbing the ramparts again.

Now there’s really no other choice. I raised my voice.

“Prepare for melee combat!”

“Yes! Prepare for melee combat-!”

“Melee combat standby squad, forward!”

About a hundred soldiers from the melee combat standby squad, who had been waiting behind, simultaneously drew their bludgeons from their waists.

The soldiers who had been firing cannons and ballistae and throwing debris stepped back for a moment.

They would join the melee combat squad after a short rest.

While the melee combat standby squad and the existing soldiers were switching places, I opened the system window.

‘Party Reorganization.’

Jupiter’s party had been wiped out, and since there were only four members in the main party, it was time for a reorganization.

Opening the party window, I added Jupiter from the sub-party to the main party.

[Main Party (5/5)]

– Lv.5 Ash (EX)

– Lv.27 Lucas (SSR)

– Lv.15 Damian (N)

– Lv.17 Lily (R)

– Lv.35 Jupiter (SR)

The main party was complete, and a party synergy was activated with a ding!

[Activated Party Synergy]

> (Commander 1) Battlefield Guard: This party’s morale will not decrease.

> (Mage 2) Double Mage: All party members’ magic attack power increases by 20 percent.

Two synergies were activated in total.

‘So wonderful!’

I couldn’t help but cheer.

Especially Double Mage is a truly excellent synergy. A 20 percent increase in magic attack power!

In the current situation where we have to rely on Jupiter’s lightning magic as soon as she recovers, there is no better synergy than this.

‘But, for now.’

I looked at the Living Armor crawling up the ramparts.

Lucas, holding his longsword in front of his chest, and the soldiers, trembling while tightly gripping their bludgeons.

‘We have to stop them with pure physical strength, not magic.’

So far, the soldiers had been able to carry out the defense battle steadily, even though they were frightened.

And the biggest reason they were able to do that was because the battle was in the form of long-range shelling.

From now on, they would have to fight up close, taking their attacks with their whole bodies.

‘Can the soldiers do it?’

I was worried about the anxious soldiers, but I soon shook my head.

‘No, they have to do it.’

Every veteran was a rookie at first.

Either way, the stages will continue after this. The monsters’ invasion will continue endlessly.

To survive, all the soldiers have to become stronger.

They have no choice but to clash, overcome, and move forward.

“They’re coming up-!”

As the Living Armor climbed right below the ramparts, the soldiers pushed them away with spears or sticks.

Grab! Grab!

But the Living Armor easily grabbed and broke them.

“Whoa?!!”

“This is insane!”

The terrified soldiers stumbled backward.

Easily neutralizing the last resistance, the Living Armor began to appear one by one on the ramparts.

Grrr…

Grrrraaa!

The first one to climb onto the ramparts let out an eerie scream. Unease spread among the soldiers.

And,

Flash-!

Lucas’s single strike split the monster’s helmet in half.

The Living Armor, split in half with red sparks, staggered.

Lucas kicked the monster’s chest with a powerful kick, pushing it off the ramparts.

“I’ll cut them down!”

Lucas shouted at the soldiers who were looking at him in surprise.

“You just need to stand your ground and block them!”

“Yes, y-yes…!”

Lucas ran across the ramparts like the wind, cutting down the Living Armor as if they were tofu.

Clang! Clang!

Every time Lucas’s sword cut through metal, it sent out bright red sparks. It was as if flowers were blooming from the tip of his sword.

I was mesmerized by the dazzling performance of the SSR-grade knight, but I quickly came to my senses. I had to do my part too!

“Lily, activate the next artifact!”

“Yes!”

At my command, Lily quickly activated the artifact.

The second of the repaired artifacts.

The N-grade Haste artifact.

It’s an artifact that casts a wide-area speed increase magic on allies. As an N-grade, its effect and duration are short.

Movement speed and attack speed increase by 5 percent, and the duration is 5 minutes.

But 5 percent is enough. 5 minutes is enough.

The buff applied during the most important first engagement time boosts the soldiers’ confidence.

As their bodies became lighter, the soldiers swung their bludgeons and shields more easily.

“Push back the monsters!”

“Knock them down-!”

The Living Armor that had climbed up collided with the soldiers.

The melee combat standby squad, who had been resting, held out much better than expected.

They couldn’t defeat the Living Armor, but they were able to form a front line against them.

The traits I equipped for this battle were [Main Order], [Attack Totem], and [Defense Totem].

They would be of some help in melee combat.

While the soldiers were holding their ground, Lucas was busy running around and swinging his sword.

Flash! Flash!

Every time the sword flashed, the Living Armor were cut down like straw.

A unique light trail from the skill flashed from the tip of Lucas’s sword. It was Lucas’s 1st skill, [Willpower Strike].

[Willpower Strike] is a stacking skill that gets stronger the more enemies you kill.

I wanted to focus all the remaining Living Armor on Lucas, but there was no time for that.

‘They’re being pushed back.’

Lucas was sweeping through almost half of the ramparts by himself, but he couldn’t handle the whole thing.

The number of monsters climbing over the ramparts was increasing. The number of casualties was also increasing.

“Argh!”

“Ugh!”

“If you’re injured, fall back immediately! Switch out!”

Every time an injured soldier appeared, I deployed the existing defense squad that had been waiting behind.

However, the existing defense squad was also exhausted from defending.

There weren’t many deaths, but the number of injuries increased rapidly. I bit my lower lip.

“Your Highness, I will return to the front line again…”

Damian, who had been resting at my command, raised his crossbow again, but I stopped him with my hand.

This guy needs to save his strength for the boss kill. The same goes for Jupiter.

‘What should I do?’

Is there a way to minimize the soldiers’ casualties and clear out the remaining Living Armor…

That’s when it happened.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, flames erupted, turning the Living Armor climbing onto the ramparts into ashes.

I was surprised and looked in that direction. Lily, in her wheelchair, had her hand extended forward with a sullen face.

“Right, you could use magic, couldn’t you?!”

I was shocked, and Lily made a dumbfounded face.

“No, I’m originally a fire mage!”

“Sorry. I only thought of you as a friend shield.”

“Seriously, aren’t you being too much?!”

The Living Armor continued to climb onto the ramparts. Lily frantically spewed flames in all directions.

Grrrraaa!

Grrrraa…

The Living Armor that came to Lily’s side of the ramparts melted away in an instant.

Since they had high physical resistance but low magic resistance, fire magic was also very effective.

“Haa, haa…”

Lily, who had quickly depleted her mana, was panting. It seemed she couldn’t handle the tremendous mana consumption unique to fire mages.

I ran behind Lily and grabbed the handle behind her wheelchair.

“Good job, Lily! I’ll promote you later!”

“No, please let me retire…”

“I’ll give you a huge bonus! So, come on! Let’s spit fire one more time!”

“I’m asking you to let me retire! And I’ve almost used up all my mana!”

“You can do it one more time! Come on, cheer up, let’s go!”

“Waaaaaah!”

I dragged Lily around in her wheelchair, making her spit fire. The effect was amazing!

With a 20 percent boost from the party synergy and a 5 percent boost from my [Attack Totem] trait.

Lily’s fire magic, enhanced by a total of 25 percent, successfully blocked half of the ramparts.

I poured a mana potion into Lily’s mouth, who was groaning in pain.

“Cheer up, flamethrower! One more blast!”

“At least treat me like a human being!”

As a result of the soldiers blocking with their bodies, Lucas cutting with his sword, and Lily scorching with fire, repeatedly.

[Enemy Information – STAGE 1]

– Lv.25 Wraith Knight: 1

– Lv.5 Living Armor Soldier: 3 (Kill Counts: 1449)

The end is in sight.

“Die, you monster bastard!”

“Get out of this castle, already!”

The soldiers surrounded the Living Armor and beat them with bludgeons,

“I really… can’t drink anymore…”

“Last one, last one. Come on. Drink this up and let’s go!”

Lily barely managed to burn one of them with fire, mana potion dripping from her mouth.

Flash!

The last one was cleanly cut in half by Lucas’s sword strike.

“…It’s over.”

When no more Living Armor were moving, the bewildered soldiers all cheered at once.

“It’s over! We held them off!”

“We did it! We did it!”

I poured cold water on the joyous atmosphere.

“It’s not over yet!”

“Yes, yes?”

“Don’t let your guard down! The last one is coming!”

I glared at the empty space. The soldiers also turned their heads, following my gaze.

Grrr…

The armor fragments of the Living Armor that had fallen throughout the area gathered around the huge wraith floating in the air.

Clank! Clank!

Thousands of armor pieces gathered to form a huge, patched-up armor.

From the gauntlets on its fingertips to the shoulder pads, the chest plate, the leg armor forming the thighs and calves, and the boots covering its feet.

And finally, the helmet.

Clank-!

The completed giant armored monster let out a gloomy groan.

Grrrraaa…!

Wraith Knight.

Blue flames flickered in the eyes of this stage’s boss monster.

Thud-!

When the monster that had been floating in the air landed on the ground, the entire area shook as if there had been an earthquake. We all staggered.

I grabbed the nearby rampart, trying to regain my balance, and swallowed a curse.

How is that a Stage 1 boss!